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• Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Inks five-year extension

  5D ago • By RotoWire

  Martinez signed a five-year, $18 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks on Friday, Alex D'Agostino of SI.com reports. In addition to covering him for 2025, Martinez's new deal will buy out his three arbitration years and includes club options for 2030 and 2031, giving him immediate financial security while the Diamondbacks get their young, hard-throwing reliever locked into a team-friendly deal. Martinez turned in a 2.48 ERA and 1.31 WHIP with 91 strikeouts over 72.2 innings during his first full season in the majors last year, though it's still unknown if he, A.J. Puk or Kevin Ginkel will be the preferred ninth-inning option once the regular season begins.

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• Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Touched for two runs

  5D ago • By RotoWire

  Martinez allowed two runs on two hits and struck out one over one inning in Thursday's spring game against the Athletics. Martinez worked the seventh inning following other closer candidates Kevin Ginkel (fifth inning) and A.J. Puk (sixth). Manager Torey Lovullo indicated Wednesday that he's still mulling the decision as to which of the three will be his primary option in the ninth inning when the games begin to count. This was the second time in eight Cactus League appearances that Martinez has allowed runs, upping his spring ERA to 6.43. Although the small samples mean little, that is much higher than the ERAs of Ginkel (1.50) and Puk (1.29).

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• Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Works clean inning

  8D ago • By RotoWire

  Martinez struck out two over one inning in Monday's Cactus League game against the Royals. Other than one ugly outing, Martinez has had a strong spring. One of the final questions remaining for the team in spring training is who will be the Diamondbacks' primary closer. Martinez has allowed three runs (all in one outing) on three hits and three walks while striking out nine over six Cactus League innings. His primary competition for the job is A.J. Puk (1.50 ERA, six innings), with Kevin Ginkel (1.69 ERA, 5.1 innings) also in consideration.

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• Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Squelches fourth-inning jam

  14D ago • By RotoWire

  Martinez threw a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in Tuesday's spring game against Kansas City. Martinez came on in the fourth inning to relieve starter Merrill Kelly, who left with one out and runners at the corners. Martinez needed just two pitches to get out of the jam, inducing a double-play groundout to end the inning. It was the fourth scoreless appearance in five Cactus League outings for Martinez, who is competing with A.J. Puk and Kevin Ginkel for the closer role.

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• Diamondbacks' Justin Martinez: Part of bullpen day

  29D ago • By RotoWire

  Martinez walked one and struck out one over a scoreless fourth inning in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Cubs. It was a bullpen day for the Diamondbacks, which gave manager Torey Lovullo a chance to see his three potential closers pitch early enough in the game to see the other team's regulars. Martinez followed Kevin Ginkel (second inning) and A.J. Puk (third inning). Martinez had the toughest task of the three, facing the second, third and four batters in Chicago's order. All three relievers threw scoreless innings, compounding the difficulty of the decision for the manager. Martinez and Puk appear to be the leading candidates, but all three are expected to work high-leverage innings at the back end of the bullpen.

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